Madrid city council announced Tuesday it would rename 30 streets that pay tribute to heroes of Francisco Franco's brutal dictatorship, such as a "butcher" general or a military unit that fought for the Nazis.

The Spanish capital's left-wing government announced in July it would enforce a nationwide "historical memory" law passed under the national Socialist government in 2007 that calls for the gradual replacement of symbols relating to Franco's 1939-75 rule.

French surrealist poet Alain Jouffroy, who "revolted against the absence of revolt", has died, his wife said Monday.

He died on Sunday, Fusako Hasae told Agence France Presse. Jouffroy was 87.

A Saudi reformist writer who called his fellow intellectuals "cowards" and his country racist has been jailed for four years and banned from writing, his lawyer and son said Monday.

Zuhair Kutbi "was sentenced to four years prison" and banned from writing for 15 years, lawyer Ibrahim al-Midaymiq tweeted at @imodattorney.

Pope Francis vowed Monday to power ahead with the reform of the Curia, the Church's "diseased" governing body, throwing down the gauntlet to those fostering a climate of intrigue, greed and double-crossing in the Vatican.

His annual address to cardinals, bishops and priests running the Holy See echoed his speech at this time last year, when he suggested the Vatican's administrative hierarchy was beset by a "spiritual Alzheimer's" and a lust for power.

More than 60 percent of Slovenian voters opposed legalism gay marriage in a referendum Sunday marked by low turnout, according to near-complete results from the electoral commission.

The outcome marked a setback for gay rights activists who had hoped to see the largely Catholic nation become Europe's first ex-communist country to give same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt.

In the capital of war-torn Libya, a dwindling Christian community of foreign workers leave their fears and anxieties at the church door as they gather for Christmas carols and laughter.

Lisa, a 47-year-old Filipina nurse, said she had just celebrated the festival of lights "for the tenth consecutive year" at Saint Francis Church, referring to the start of advent and the Christmas season.

More than 60 percent of Slovenians voted against legalizing gay marriage in a referendum Sunday marked by low turnout, according to near-complete results from the electoral commission.

Just 35.65 percent of registered voters turned out to have their say on whether the country should approve legislation -- already passed in parliament -- that would have given gay couples the right to marry and adopt.

The homework assignment at a U.S. high school asked students to reproduce a sample of classical Arabic handwriting, to help broaden their appreciation of its "artistry."

Instead, it sparked an uproar -- and even threats of violence -- that led officials on Friday to temporarily shut down the entire school district.

Parliamentarians from India's right-wing government on Friday blocked a private member's bill to decriminalize gay sex, in a setback for sexual freedom in the world's biggest democracy.

Shashi Tharoor, a lawmaker from the opposition Congress party, sought to table a bill to amend section 377 of the Indian penal code, which bans homosexual acts as "carnal intercourse against the order of nature". 

Pope Francis has recognized a second miracle attributed to the late Mother Teresa, clearing the path for the nun to be elevated to sainthood next year, the Vatican said Friday. 

Mother Teresa, celebrated for her work with the poor in the Indian city of Kolkata, is expected to be canonized as part of the pope's Jubilee year of mercy.